Jerry Brown's day of budget reckoning has arrived. Wisconsin Republicans circumvent Democrats and pass the hot button budget bill. The latest Orange County news. Charlie Sheen and shattering illusions of celebrity worship. Legendary actress Eva Marie Saint is still gracing the stage.
Brown and the budget “B-Day”
Governor Jerry Brown is wining and dining with lawmakers in Sacramento trying to find a budget compromise, but Republicans are holding fast to their promise not to support his proposed tax extensions. Today is “B-Day,” the date by which Brown said he would have a budget deal in place, but sixty days have now elapsed and the Governor is locked in a stalemate with a holdout group of five Senate Republicans. Items of continuing debate include tax extensions, budgeting, worker pensions, environmental regulations and education changes. What is the best compromise for resolving the ongoing budget crisis? Which party, if either, has the best plan for moving California forward?
Guest:
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director of External Affairs for the California Department of Finance
Wisconsin bill is a done deal
After over three weeks of cross-state maneuvering and the efforts thousands of protesters, a bill sharply curtailing collective bargaining rights for government workers in Wisconsin passed the State Senate last night and is due for a vote in the State Assembly this morning, where it is expected to pass. In the Senate, only Republican members cast votes; the 14 democratic members were not present. As Gov. Scott Walker is standing by ready to sign the legislation “as quickly as I can legally,” Democrats are still reeling from the unexpected legislative maneuver that allowed the bill to pass. Because all fiscal provisions were left out of the bill, a quorum was not required to be present the Republicans voted 18-1 to pass a version of the bill without any financial provisions. What will happen next? Where are the democrats now both literally and figuratively? How will unions react to the bills unexpected passage?
Guest:
Patrick Marley, State Capital Reporter, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Orange County Journalists Roundtable
Larry and our talented trio of Orange County journalists riff on the latest news from the OC including the possible Sacramento Kings move to the Honda Center, the city of Costa Mesa giving pink slips to half its staff, the OC Public Guardian’s long goodbye, the Irvine 11 becoming a national cause, anti-Imam protests in Yorba Linda and OC beaches increasingly used by Mexican smugglers.
Guests:
Gustavo Arellano, Managing Editor of the OC Weekly and author of Ask A Mexican
William Lobdell, Orange County-based freelance journalist and columnist for the Daily Pilot in Newport Beach. He’s the author of Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America—and Found Unexpected Peace.
Teri Sforza, Staff Writer for the Orange County Register
Hearings begin on the radicalization of American Muslims
Today, The House Homeland Security Committee begins hearings to assess the terrorist threat posed from American Muslims. Peter King, chairman of the committee, says affiliates of al-Qaida are radicalizing some American Muslims. Yesterday, AirTalk debated whether hearings focused entirely on one religious group are fair and necessary or might do more damage than good by sending the wrong message to Muslims in America. Now that the hearings are underway, we’ll check in with KPCC’s Washington correspondent Kitty Felde who’s there. Will King manage to keep the tone away from the hysteria that some fear will ruin the process? Are legitimate and helpful leads being generated? And on the Capitol Hill how are representatives reacting to the controversy?
Guest:
Guest: Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington DC correspondent
Does Charlie Sheen’s mad-capped meltdown free us from our illusions about stars?
Americans love to think of film and television stars as ordinary people. We hold dear to this belief, because if it’s true, it means the only thing between us and them is a bit of talent, work and luck. In order to keep this dream alive, we mere mortals require that stars tow the line. If they get too big for their britches (think: Tom Cruise) we reserve the right to put them in their place. Perhaps they’ll rise again, but only after eating some serious humble pie and begging for forgiveness. Enter Charlie Sheen. If his recent antics tell us anything, it’s that stardom is very different from every day life. Not only that, says Neal Gabler in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times, but Sheen is breaking this contract intentionally, even flagrantly. He’s loving his porn-star, cocaine-infused rock star life – and you’re not, because you're different. And that’s just fine with him. Is this the real reason people are griping about Sheen – because he’s broken the contract and revealed our dreams as total fantasy? Is he just walking the walk of fame unapologetically? Or might he be the next star desperately seeking absolution and rehab?
Guest:
Neal Gabler, author of "He's Charlie Sheen, and you're not" for the Los Angeles Times; Journalist and Senior Fellow at the Norman Lear Center at the Annenberg School for Communication at USC
Eva Marie Saint is still gracing the stage
Legendary actress Eva Marie Saint has enjoyed a decades-long career in film, television and on the stage. She has studied at the Actor’s Studio, starred in “On the Waterfront” with Marlon Brando, shared the screen with icon Cary Grant in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest” and been broadcast into the living rooms of millions with multiple starring roles during the golden age of “live” television. Saint has continued to perform well into her 80s, most recently in the Pulitzer Prize nominated play, Love Letters, which tells the bittersweet story a lifetime-long relationship through the letters the couple exchanged. What is your favorite Eva Marie Saint role? What does it take for a performer to successful lifetime in show business?
Guest:
Eva Marie Saint, actress, starred in the films On the Waterfront and North by Northwest, television programs Moonlighting, The Love Boat and the Pulitzer nominated play, Love Letters